Finding the Happy Endings

Post-Thanksgiving wild turkeys enjoy a sunny day perched on a picnic table.

When I first began my writing journey, I thought people wrote from where they were at - meaning, a thriller author lived an exciting life, and a romance author enjoyed the bliss of perfect relationships. I'm not sure what I thought about science fiction and horror authors.

Then I heard a speaker at a writers conference several years ago. The bestselling romance author gave an inspirational talk about how the tragedies and hardships in her life propelled her to continue writing. She was not writing from where she was at, but from where she wanted to be.

As a cozy mystery author and reader, I crave happy endings. That doesn't mean my life is rainbows and unicorns. (I touched on my family history in an article on Donis Casey's blog last month.) It means that I've found escape from the harsh realities of life in fiction that provides solutions to character problems.

The people in these stories have reliably happy endings. Well, the protagonist anyway. The bad guys and girls receive their comeuppance with astonishing speed, unlike real life.

What I'm realizing is that happy endings come in moments. It's not a permanent condition. Seize the victories, the peaceful hours, the harmonious family gatherings. Live in them, not looking to the past or anticipating (or dreading) the future.

Like the wild turkeys in the photo. Be a turkey.

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